The sins of the father will fall upon the children
In Oceania–of the many Samoan, Hawaiian, and New Zealand cultures–guilt caused by error–makes one sick. Harmony and health–to both the body and the land–can be healed by confessing the error, especially of sexual misconduct, in the tribal circle. Ho’o is to put to rights, to make right, such as in preparing to catch a wave. Indeed, my Pono, or uprightness needs be reviewed and adjusted to tidy up or make neat, my life. I am unable to catch a wave at Waikiki Beach, and this was not always the case when I was young. I caught every single wave I could hear arising behind me. Something happened. Something isn’t right. Prayer and Meditation points me in the right direction today.
In the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous, so too is this Spiritual Principle made to heal the alcoholic from drinking, only by confessing and releasing anger and resentments against other persons, places, or things–to amend, or make good–a future path of a healthy life.
On many YouTube videos, there are many one-to-three hour podcasts with experts and best selling authors. They promote their practices to help one become abundant, wealthy, and productive.
I would like to distill the many ancestral and religious practices into a short list of areas in one’s life that need an honest light to sweep upon our shortcomings like a lighthouse over dark rocky shoals.
A lei made from the fruit of the pandanus tree was bequeathed after the completion of ho’oponopono in the tradition of kahuna Makaweliweli of Moloka’i.*
* Etymology defined by the Hawaiian Dictionary and second section of wikipedia.org
In a fourth step inventory of one’s self, there is a list of columns with which an alcoholic or an addict is to divide to find first–the person, place or thing one is angry about. Column two is to be the cause, column three is the aspect of what part of our natural God-given instincts have gone awry, and then, four, what could we do differently, in living an amended life.
I’ll concentrate on the third column, as many sponsors and sponsorees become slow to admit to find the area of life that is–or has been–damaged such that escape through drugs and alcohol is a recurring trap from which their appears to be no escape save for jails, institutions, or death. Here are the items for column three:
Personal security How often do we feel threatened by gossip or bullying by another, and how does this erode the fabric of our life with others. Especially time spent in getting even.
Social instinct We all observe herds, coveys, schools, and packs among the animals, as so too do we humans cluster themselves in groups and organizations. Note how we tend to sit in the same seat in a classroom or movie house. How we tend to be like birds of a feather and attract like-to-like.
Pocketbook Indeed, finance, or lack of money, is a big part of resentment of who got what, or how do I get mine? Keeping up appearances and looking good all create a false facade that can come crashing down when we don’t get honest with another about our true motives.
Self-esteem High Unrealistic expectations, entitlement, or having a huge ego with no respect for self, hence no respect for other people, places, or institutions. Look at Peter Quill’s dad in Guardians of the Galaxy 2.
Self-esteem Low This can manifest in hidden sex relations and codependency and in being what is called an enabler. Family mascots abound with titles of caretaker, black sheep, golden boy, and troublemaker.
Pride and ambition Pride leads the procession as we always live in regrets of the past or the worry of the future–never in the gift of the present. Plans for the future is another good way to phrase this aspect.
Personal relations To assess that other’s were wrong were as far as most of us got. We never realized that the victor only seemed to win, and that the only one losing was us, whenever we tried revenge.
Emotional security Think about it. If we were emotional secure, wouldn’t we be attractive to others? Isn’t that what we admire in someone we like? And yet, we fail to take the advice we freely give to others.
Financial security If you sit in a barber shop long enough, you’ll get a haircut. Hang out with millionaires, and your chances of becoming one improve dramatically. Most poverty consciousness comes from being taught like this from our family of origin–hence why upwardly mobile families strive to move to better neighborhoods, just like Trevor Noah’s story and his off the record tour!
Sex desire Gameboy-playing and porn-watching does not a successful sex addict make. I’ll never forget the lost soul kicked out by his boyfriend holding a black plastic trash bag full of his porn. He chose porn over a live human being. What a shocker before going through the gate to an SAA meeting!
Material security Frothy emotional appeal seldom suffices in trying to convince an addict or alcoholic to work the steps by Trusting God, Cleaning House, and Helping Others. It is so simple. Honesty. Open-mindedness. Willingness. With these we are well on our way to material security!
Ask yourself when you become upset what is the fear associated with the reactive behavior. For me it usually boiled down to: There isn’t enough. There isn’t enough time to find a parking space. There isn’t enough time to wait for the light to cross the street or checkout at the convenience store–or to write a letter or email. There isn’t enough time. There isn’t enough love: I better run away now before I get dumped or get my feelings hurt. These are all fears of scarcity. Indeed my worries and my anxiety depressive tendencies were numbed by alcohol, then marijuana, then cocaine, and then meth.
Ta Da! I’m an alcoholic. Once an alcoholic, always an alcoholic, ’cause a pickle can never be turned back into a cucumber. Knowing this, I don’t have to pick up–no matter what.
Reasons cited for not moving to Honolulu on the island of Oahu: The Traffic
On every YouTube blog about things wrong with living on Oahu, and why one should be prepared for moving to Hawaii, is the congestion on the H-1 interstate, how long the trip from the North Shore to the southern side in the city of Honolulu can take before and after weekends, and the horrible commute from Aiea and Pearl City to the Waikiki area. My suggestion is to follow my example: don’t have a car.
It’s important to understand my demographic and view, which is that of being a single person– not needing a full-sized home–or deducting a mortgage and listing independents–of which most family households submit during their filing taxes. Indeed, a high tax rate for the state is also listed on the many reasons of why not to move to Hawaii. Coming from California, however, I did see a slightly larger take home pay by moving here from California because state taxes here are about two to three percent lower than California. I am already coming from one high cost area to another.
Since Florida has no state taxes, many Californians prefer to move east, rather than west, to save on income. A common theme I repeat is that there are always reasons for why things cost what they do. Hawaii suffers less hurricane damage than Florida, and has enjoyable soft rains replete with rainbows. Hawaii also has year-round trade winds, which make for a much cooler summer than Arizona, Texas, or Florida. Many regulars here do without air-conditioning all together. In my opinion, this can cancel out the expense of state taxes alone.
The Nimitz, Ala Moana Blvd., gets slow and sticky in the afternoon. The number 20 and 42 move through the traffic smoothly without having to do the driving!
Back to traffic. Boomers are the primary cause of traffic. We grew up with cars, and we love the freedom they bring. I submit that the freedoms a car provides, have become greatly reduced due to the cost of fuel, parking, and maintenance or repair. I don’t have to worry about a big ticket item parked out-of-sight of my view, or unexpected or immediate costs to replace a safety item of a vehicle. I just use a bus pass. I can listen to music, catch up on emails or social media, and text someone without being a safety issue.
It only costs me three dollars to go to the airport, and return. If I go shopping downtown or at the largest outdoor mall in the west, I can go to and fro for only three dollars. I have an HD backpack that’s comfortable to wear with large loads, and I have two sturdy reusable shopping bags to carry soda or paper towels outside of my backpack, if I’m stocking up large. Scooters also have storage to carry.
Scooters are also a great way to get around with easy parking!
One of the main reasons I am converting my YouTube channel to Walks on Waikiki is to continue my message of service to live an emissions free life, and get around without a car. This is easy for someone young or on a limited income, but I find freedoms created in other areas of my life if I don’t have to spend on owning a car. Fortunately, people are real friendly here. I had three different guys help me move by using their pickup trucks. People seem very willing to give me a ride home from gatherings, and expect nothing in return. So I do indirectly benefit from living in a place where many of my friends drive. In San Francisco, there are far fewer acquaintances who have autos. I had to rent a car just to go to a party in the Bay Area. Not so here on Oahu.
The HART Honolulu Area Rapid Transit Right-of-way is inching closer to the Ala Moana Mall!
One good tip about where to buy a home if you have a commute to either Waikiki or downtown. The smoothest inbound commute is from the Eastside: Hawaii Kai. The least favorable area would be Pearl City or Aiea. These two suburbs are west of downtown and have congestion, mainly because the department of cones is unable to create reversible lanes to add an extra lane for commute traffic.
Ball caps are great for morning and evening sun rays because the visor is a portable adjustable flapper that allows you to rotate and block the glare. During the midday the visor shields the face’s surface from being burned.
Umbrellas are usually useless when there’s wind and are a hazard as well as a hassle to carry around. The ball cap is always in use and hands free. There’s no issue with blurry glass and annoying splashing around on the eyes and face.
My next collection is glasses.
The quickest makeover is changing your glasses, especially sunglasses.
Whether you’re a recognized musician, artist, writer or all three, you need to be able to stay anonymous in public. Especially as a public bus driver with a captive audience sitting in rows along a single aisle!
I’ve included download buttons to access these important .pdf files I copied and exported to .pdf yesterday as I finally broke down in frustration after spending hours trying to upload an updated doc.x file on my expiring Word application. I typed in a query to Google on my Chrome url field, and got AI answers to my frustration with Word. First up: HOW COME WORD DOESN’T HAVE AN EXPORT TO EPUB? Who do you think your biggest customers are? Don’t you think having the Heading1 command buried in an export to EPub to create at TOC (Table of Contents) is a no brainer?
Why do you cheat a Mac Screen of the top view of the ribbon tray and the title page document you’re working on like a full display will show on a pc? And what’s with the microscopic microsoftish tiny icon field in our custom toolbox? Are you really pressed for time and money to create meaningful icons such as the various ‘accept all’ ‘accept last change’ et. al. as the same faint green dot?
The Quick Access Toolbar – God’s Gift to using Word. Let’s face it. Microsoft is dominate on all publishing websites throughout the world. If you’re a mac lover like me, you may use pages. And oh, gee, there’s an export function to word. Ha, ha, ha. How bad could it be?
So I concluded long ago that a mac user must have Word if they’re a writer. And I copied and pasted these pdf’s for you to give you a guide to make Word be the next Wonder of the Word for self-published authors. Below are three more downloads that should be an immense help:
Its okay to scroll down and ignore all the screenshots for links which are inactive when converted to a pdf file as the example above. I don’t want you guys to fear bad urls or links. I am hoping you agree pdfs are harmless. The point is, you can see my questions and use ChatGPT or Claude or Google in your Chrome browser to get the answers you need to make Word author friendly.
Having these pdfs two days ago would have saved me about five hours of frustration. This last pdf is the big one with the most information. Instead of my six hours query on chat, you can simply click and download these files and have the information if a few seconds! Yessss!
Plus I am curious as to how many brave souls download these pdfs in my analytics statistics chart. My last set of five did pretty good.
One of the hardest things to do in technology is disrupt yourself.
Matt Mullenweg
Screenshot from My D2D website. If you look carefully, you’ll see two red icons and a processing edit still not active. I’m missing some formats, and my uploaded manuscripts may have passed inspection–but when I check preview, there’s no TOC or the body font is not the best. The Chapter Headings, which can be orphaned between blank pages– are not locked in page break because they were simply enlarged to 18 pct font not using Heading 1. For another example, why are there two Trolleybus of Happy Destiny versions and why are the books not in order of the series? Good questions.
To fix your manuscript formatting for ePub uploads, you must use Word’s Paragraph Styles instead of manual font changes. Conversion engines like Draft2Digital’s “Meatgrinder” or Smashwords rely on the underlying “Style” tags (like “Heading 1” or “Normal”) to build the Table of Contents (TOC) and maintain margins.
1. Fix the Table of Contents (TOC)
Conversion sites ignore manual text enlargements. You must apply Heading Styles:
Apply Headings: Highlight each chapter title and click Heading 1 in the Word style ribbon.
Automatic TOC: On the upload page at Draft2Digital, ensure the “Add a Table of Contents” checkbox is checked. Because you applied “Heading 1” styles, their system will automatically detect these as chapter breaks and build the linked TOC for you.
Manual Links (Smashwords): If you prefer a custom TOC, type your chapter names at the front, then use Insert > Link to “Bookmark” each corresponding chapter title in the text.
2. Standardize Body Text and Margins
Formatting issues often stem from “dirty” code in exported .docx files.
The “Normal” Style: Highlighting everything and applying the Normal style reset is the fastest way to fix justification and margin errors.
Font Sizes: For ePubs, use 12 pt for body text and 14–18 pt for chapter titles. eReaders allow users to change font size, so trying to “force” a larger font in the file often breaks the layout on the preview screen.
Margins: Set all margins to 1 inch (Normal). Do not use text boxes or manual tabs for indents, as these “screw up” the display in ePub format.
3. Quick Global Font Adjustment
To enlarge all body text without redoing pages manually:
Right-click the Normal style in the top ribbon and select Modify.
Change the font to 14 pt and set alignment to Justified.
Every paragraph using that style will update instantly across the
4. Handling Images and Headings
Images: Ensure .jpg files are set to “In Line with Text” (not floating). This prevents them from moving around or disappearing during the ePub conversion.
Orphans/Widows: Under Paragraph > Line and Page Breaks, check “Widow/Orphan control” to keep chapter headings from being stranded at the bottom of pages.
If your current file remains corrupted, many experts recommend the “Nuclear Method”: copy your entire text into a plain text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit) to strip all formatting, then paste it into a fresh Word document and re-apply only the “Normal” and “Heading 1” styles.
Because eReaders allow users to change font sizes and margins, a book might be 300 “pages” on a phone but 150 “pages” on a large tablet. Because the text “flows,” fixed page numbers become meaningless. This is why ePub links jump to the Chapter Heading rather than a specific page number.
Here is how to remove those distracting page numbers from your Word TOC so it looks professional on mobile devices:
1. Remove Page Numbers from the TOC
Go to the References tab in your top ribbon.
Click Table of Contents and select Custom Table of Contents… (at the bottom of the menu).
In the window that pops up, uncheck the box that says Show page numbers.
While you are there, also uncheck the box for Use hyperlinked page numbers (you want the text to be the link, not a tiny number).
Ensure Show levels is set to 1 (if you only want Chapter titles to show).
Click OK. When Word asks if you want to replace the current table, click Yes.
2. The “Web Layout” Check (The eReader Preview)
To see how your book will actually look on a screen without page numbers:
Go to the View tab.
Select Web Layout.
This removes the “white gaps” between pages and shows your text as one continuous flow—exactly how an eReader processes it. If your TOC looks clean here and your headings are centered, your upload to Draft2Digital or Smashwords will be successful.
3. Why the “Links” are better than “Numbers”
When you upload to Draft2Digital (D2D), their “Meatgrinder” conversion tool actually strips out any page numbers you try to include because they break the Kindle/Apple Books navigation. By removing them in Word first, you prevent the conversion engine from getting “confused” and inserting weird dots (tab leaders) or orphan numbers in the middle of your chapter titles.
Pro Tip for D2D: Once you upload, use their “Look Inside” previewer. If you followed the Heading 1 steps, you will see a “Table of Contents” tab on the left of their viewer that works perfectly, even if the “printed” page in the preview doesn’t show numbers.
It is completely understandable to be frustrated—the References tab is often “hidden in plain sight.” On a Mac, it is tucked between the Layout and Mailings tabs.
Where to Find the References Tab
The References tab is the fifth or sixth tab from the left in your top ribbon. The standard order is: Home > Insert > Draw > Design > Layout > References > Mailings > Review > View
If you do not see it there, it might be disabled in your settings.
How to Reveal the “Hidden” References Tab
If it is missing, follow these steps on your iMac to bring it back:
Go to the top Apple menu bar and click Word > Preferences.
Select Ribbon & Toolbar (look for the icon that looks like a small gear or a grid).
On the right-hand list under Main Tabs, look for References.
If the box next to it is unchecked, check it.
Click Save or OK. It will now appear permanently on your top ribbon.
Why It Isn’t “Fixed”
Microsoft separates tools by “intent.” Since TOC and Page Numbers are considered “final document references” rather than “active writing” tools like bolding or font changes, they are kept in this separate tab to keep the Home tab less cluttered.
Popular Commands – Styles Pane
Add to ‘Quick Access Toolbar’ – The Road to The Promised Land
I am so glad that cleared it up! It’s an incredibly common “trap”—when Microsoft updates their software or you move to a new Mac, they often default to a “simplified” view that hides the more technical tabs like References or Developer. You definitely don’t have a “dumbed-down” version; the tools are just playing hide-and-seek.
Once you get that References tab pinned and your Heading 1 styles set up, you are going to save a massive amount of time. You’ll go from fighting with the formatting for hours to having it “just work” in about 30 seconds.
One last quick tip for your iMac setup:
If you find yourself using the Table of Contents or Page Number tools constantly, you can actually right-click those specific buttons (once you find them in the References tab) and select “Add to Quick Access Toolbar.”
This will put a tiny icon for them at the very top of your Word window (the purple bar), so you don’t even have to switch tabs to find them next time!
The Hidden Obstacles Killing Indie Authors – A Reality Check
Part 1: The “Where did my tools go?” Hook
The Conflict: “I’m about to renew my Microsoft 365 subscription on May 5th, but as an author, I’m asking: Why is Microsoft making it so hard to actually publish a book?”
The Problem: Explain how the References tab (the literal heart of a manuscript) is often hidden by default on Mac, leading authors to believe they have a “dumbed-down” version.
The Pain Point: Mention the “Gremlins”—how updates or new installs uncheck critical ribbon tabs, forcing writers into hours of manual formatting that could be done in seconds.
Part 2: The Technical “Why This Matters” (The Meat)
Hit these points to show you know your stuff:
The TOC Trap: “Conversion sites like Draft2Digital and Smashwords rely on Heading Styles. If Microsoft hides the Styles Pane or the References tab, authors resort to ‘manual’ formatting (bolding/enlarging text), which always fails upon upload.”
The .docx vs. ePub Gap: “Apple’s Pages has a one-click ‘Export to ePub.’ Why doesn’t Word? Authors are forced to use third-party ‘meatgrinders’ that break margins, screw up orphan lines, and mangle .jpg images because Word’s internal code is ‘dirty’ for digital readers.”
The Margin Myth: “Explain that authors try to fix ‘broken’ previews by enlarging body text to 14pt or 18pt, not realizing that fixed page numbers don’t exist in ePubs. Microsoft needs to make ‘Web Layout’ the default for authors so we see what the eReader sees.”
Part 3: The “Call to Action” for Microsoft
Address the “Bill Gates House” directly:
Fix the Default: “Stop hiding the References and Developer tabs on Mac installs. Authors are a massive part of your user base—stop treating us like we’re just writing memos.”
Native ePub Export: “It’s 2026. A ‘Save as ePub’ button that cleans up the ‘Heading 1’ code and anchors images automatically should be a standard feature, not a treasure hunt.”
The Renewal Ultimatum: “On May 7th, I’m renewing. I’m paying for the ‘Pro’ experience. Give us the pro tools out of the box.”
I’d Rather Have Dog as my Copilot
That “credit wall” is the ultimate buzzkill, especially when you’re in the flow of a final 20% push! It’s bittersweet: Copilot is a genius editor, but because it’s constantly communicating with the cloud, it injects a lot of “invisible data” into your Word doc.
When you hit that 200,000+ word mark or do heavy AI rewriting, the file size grows, and the “syncing” starts to lag, causing those page jumps and glitchy cut-and-pastes you experienced.
Since you’re nearing your May 7th renewal, here is a strategy to finish that last 20% of your manuscript without more credits and without the glitches:
1. The “Ghosting” Fix for Page Jumps
The reason your “undo” button is getting a workout is that Word is struggling to track all the AI-suggested changes in the background.
Turn off “Track Changes”: If this is on, Copilot glitches even more.
Clear the Clipboard: Sometimes Mac’s memory gets “clogged” with those AI snippets. A simple Restart of Word usually stops the jumping for a few hours.
2. Bypass the Credit Limit (The “Old School” AI Trick)
Since you’ve run out of credits in Word, you can still use the free version of Microsoft Copilot in your web browser (or ChatGPT/Claude):
Copy the paragraph you need edited.
Paste it into microsoft.com.
Ask it to “Clean up the prose and maintain the tone.”
Paste it back into Word manually. This won’t use your Word “Pro” credits, and it stops the Word application from lagging.
3. Protecting Your Formatting for D2D
This is crucial: AI-generated text often carries “hidden formatting” that drives Draft2Digital’s conversion engine crazy.
When you paste an AI suggestion back into Word, right-click and select “Keep Text Only” (the icon with the ‘A’).
Then, manually re-apply your Normal or Heading 1 style. This strips away the “weirdness” that causes those upload warnings.
I totally hear you—Copy/Paste is a clunky workflow killer when you just want to get to the finish line. Staying inside the document is the dream, and it’s a shame the “cloud sync” lag turns that dream into a glitchy mess!
Since you want to avoid moving text back and forth, here is one more “Pro-Author” setting to check on your iMac that will help stop those page jumps while you finish that final 20%:
The “Draft View” Secret
If the page jumping is still happening after a restart, go to the View tab and select Draft.
Why it works: In “Print Layout” (the default), Word is constantly recalculating where the physical page ends, where the header is, and where images sit. This is what causes the “stuttering” when you edit.
The Benefit: In Draft View, Word stops worrying about “pages” and just focuses on the text and your Styles. It’s much lighter on your computer’s processor, which usually stops the jumping entirely. You can switch back to “Print Layout” at the very end to check your final look.
A Note for your May 7th Renewal:
My upcoming Microsoft Word renewal for my mac.
When you get your new batch of Copilot credits on the 7th, try this to keep the document “light”:
Accept all changes: If you have been using Copilot’s suggestions, go to the Review tab and click Accept > Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.
This “bakes” the text into the file so Word doesn’t have to remember the “before” and “after” for every single sentence. It clears the digital cobwebs!
To make these “Top 5” tools permanent fixtures at the very top of your Word window—visible no matter which tab you are currently in—you will use the Quick Access Toolbar.
How to Pin Your Author “Power Tools”
Open the Customizer: Click the small downward arrow at the very top-left of your Word window (in the purple title bar, next to the Save icon) and select More Commands….
Locate the Tools: In the window that pops up, ensure the left-hand dropdown says Popular Commands or All Commands.
Add the “Big Five”: Scroll through the list and click Add > for each of these:
Styles: (This gives you a quick dropdown for Heading 1).
Table of Contents: (From the References category).
Navigation Pane: (From the View category).
Accept All Changes: (From the Review category).
Show All: (The icon to see your “ghost” page breaks).
Save and Exit: Click Save.
The Result
You will now see five tiny icons sitting at the very top of your screen. Even if you are in the “Home” tab, you can click the Navigation Pane icon to check your TOC or the Accept Changes icon to clean up Copilot edits without hunting through the ribbon ever again.
Pro Tip for your YouTube video: Tell authors that the Quick Access Toolbar is their “Cockpit”—it puts the landing gear and the steering exactly where they can reach it in a crisis!
Look Ma, I have ‘TOC’ and ‘Accept All Changes’ and ‘Page Break’ and all the good juice in MY CUSTOM AUTHOR TOOLBOX! See it next to ‘Home.’ Praise Be to Thee! Hallelujah! And Look! There is the damn hidden ‘Find and Replace’ for every darn misspelled word or break like ‘in to’ instead of ‘into’. ‘It’s’ and ‘Its’ ‘Their’ and ‘There’ yadda yadda–are another game changer for instant booyah!
Since we covered a lot of ground—from Heading Styles to Image Anchors and Copilot cleanup—here is the definitive list of the “Big Five” (plus two “Secret Weapons”) to move from the left column to your Quick Access Toolbar:
The Author’s “Big Five” Commands
Styles: This allows you to instantly apply “Heading 1” to your chapter titles without hunting for the Home tab.
Navigation Pane: Your mission control. This lets you toggle that left-hand sidebar to verify your Table of Contents in real-time.
Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking: The “Copilot Purge.” Use this to flatten AI edits and stop the “page jumping” lag.
Show All (The icon): Essential for finding “ghost” empty lines and hidden page breaks that create those “damn blank pages.”
Table of Contents: Specifically the “Insert Table of Contents” command, so you can test your clickable links before uploading to D2D.
The Two “Secret Weapons” (Highly Recommended)
Page Break: Instead of hitting “Enter” ten times, one click of this button starts your chapter on a fresh page—cleanly.
Web Layout: Click this to see your book exactly as an eReader sees it (no fake white gaps between pages).
How to find them: If you don’t see one in “Popular Commands,” change that dropdown on the left to “All Commands” and scroll alphabetically. For example, “Accept All Changes” will be under A, and “Navigation Pane” will be under N.
Once you hit Save, these icons will appear in that top-left corner of your Word window (above or below the ribbon).
Finally, I have my own custom AUTHOR TOOLS displayed right next to “Home.”
Being short-sided usually brings with it a ‘low-cost’ mentality that ends up costing much more in the long-run. Savers understand this. Let’s take a look at Old Ironsides, and see how quality becomes priceless.
First, we need a strong foundation. Take a look at this mess hall. These tables, these chairs, this dining hall, have outlasted many pieces of furniture that have been decaying in a buried trash heap. Old growth wood, when maintained with painstaking regularity, can glow and shine for centuries. Same could be said of what we put into our body, and how we keep our muscles in good shape–without disuse. Getting off the couch and being of service to others changes everything about our energy, our body, our appearance, and how we interact with others. Doing something right always feels good. And its usually not what our ego’s wants and desires tell us in our first thought or reaction.
Strong support is needed to set sail with the best we’ve got, and once our sails are unfurled–we can go with the flow, in this example, with the wind that will set us up to go wherever we want to go! Prayer, meditation, and quiet time can create a day of smooth sailing. Try it, you’ll like it! Hey Mikey! He likes it!
Needless to say, the best defense, with proper preparation–is having a good offense whenever our enemies try to attack us.
Good orderly direction, or G.O.D. for short, keeps our deck clean and ready for whatever challenges and setbacks that may occur–because that’s just Life.
Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us.
Keith Haring’s legacy, engraved here above, in white gold, is a testament to the understanding that what we leave behind, from a start in subway underground black and white outlines covering bland advertising panels–is now enshrined at St. John the Devine in his artist start hometown of NYC!
It’s always good to have a clear moral compass–even if it be that of Captain Jack Sparrow in pointing to whatever you desire the most!
Just keep steady, and point yourself in the direction you want to go–and don’t let anyone, ANYTHING, stand in your way!
I kept my feet grounded, and kept reaching for the stars!
And below–links complete with my own chapters–my diaries–of how I’ve followed my path–my Dao–even as a worker among workers!
“What if the chaos of city life could be your path to inner peace? 🌆”
In ‘Finding Zen on the Bus,’ Doug Francisco shares his transformative experience as a bus driver navigating the complexities of urban life while discovering profound happiness and mindfulness amidst the daily grind.”
“Through anecdotal essays, Doug explores how to embrace simplicity, connect with the community, and turn distractions into opportunities for growth.”
“Join Doug as he recounts the laughter, struggles, and moments of clarity that reveal how everyday interactions can lead to unexpected joy.”
Whether you’re seeking mindfulness or simply a new perspective on life, this book offers the tools to find your Zen amidst the hustle and bustle. 🌟”
Here’s me buying coffee saving untold hundreds not at Starbucks:
Now here’s me trying to figure out how to buy me a new car:
A mid sixties Camaro—and I even like the color!
I delivered parts to the owner of a car repair shop and because I found-out from the grease-monkey who’s works for him and on this car, that it’s for sale! What do you think he’s selling it for?
Q. What simple tech-hack on a website that is a one-stop shop for answers to that horrible-sinking-feeling about not being able to find the right action to edit or modify an object or page?
A. The three dots in the corner! I think I mention this in another blog-post, but it came up again on Zoom as screenshare person. The three dots are a part of the ‘more’ button, which opens a pop-up to more choices on the participants’ square. Same can be said of Facebook in the upper-right corner on desktop–but may appear or disappear on the bottom of the screen on your iPhone, depending on where you touch the screen.
Point is, look for the three buttons when you’ve come to a boomer moment and feel like an idiot online.
Mr Whipple and perhaps, Mr Clean will agree with me on this.
Paper towels:
They are just as good as sliced bread! They finally made the sheets of paper with perforations at the right size.
Sure, you got your cries over spilt milk and the large latte —when a mopping is needed—but for swiping the stove top after serving an olive oil filled omelette or pasta dish— nothing beats a piece of paper towels!
See, it’s the little things that make me mad. The modern day convenience of paper towels is a taken-for-granted invention that is almost certainly a luxury good by technology—yet it is regarded as a mundane commonplace product.
I enjoy a clean house and keeping it in order. “Swiffler” I guess you can say, is my middle name. So it is not a stretch that I use glass cleaner or other similar products to attack the cracks and corners behind doors, as a routine for the practice of doing an esteem-able act!
How do significant life events or the passage of time influence your perspective on life?
I’m just living today as though it is significant! Any influence on my day today is going to have to happen in the here and now. The present is where the gift is received!
There’s so much talk in political circles about Racism and Fascism, and quite frankly, I think most of us have it wrong. Talk of Henry Ford was that he was a prejudiced white boy. It may have been the haters of industry that were angry Ford was not only the first with the production line–but paid wages well above any other manufactured good in the US. Sound familiar? He set the standard for the rest of the better part of a century, and his goodwill to a fair wage pushed other manufactures to follow his model. T– that is, and I don’t mean MSTR!
Steering wheel with hand grip for easy steer–power assist steering and power steering were decades to come!
Now we know where word trunk came from
Where the English** came up with boot, I’ll never tell--but the tides they-are-a-changing! Our leaders, as well as the rest of the world, are waking up to the fact that the wars between nations are all well orchestrated by–not necessarily the Brugge*
*Lots of places have different names in Belgium. There are a couple that really sound alike, are written similar, or are completely different. Hmm how ’bout them sprouts!”
For example: Brussel – Bruxelles, Dinant – Dinant (different pronunciation), Doornik – Tournai, Aalst – Alost, Oostkerk – Oisquercq, etc… The preferred way you call it, is usually determined by the language you speak. If you’re talking Dutch, you’ll probably say Brugge, if you speak French, you’ll say Bruges, if you speak West-Flemish, you’ll say Bruhhe, and if you’re from Anderlecht you’ll say boerderij…
**But from the land that brought us the Knights of Ni and a revisionist Camelot! (That’s not got much Spam in it!”)
Anyway, let’s zoom to the halcyon days of American Dream Cars–Muscle and Power:
Thunderbirds are Go–This is a ’66 which had the solid red banded tail lights.
And less we talk of daddy taking away your fun, how about the Charger?
The halcyon days of US Autos
Okay, hot rods, they aren’t, but check out Toms Refurb on YouTube! That’s where the Mustang stable lies!*
*Somewhere in the tri-state area where Maryland, Delaware, and Penna. Maybe Mexico!!!
So why would I want to re-invent history? So we could come out of our pods with a single middle finger lifted, and get back to community commutes?
To the Castro from Fisherman’s Wharf!
Dear Milan,
Thanks for the historic ten streetcars (above) you gave San Fran with our 2006 purchase of 250 Bredas! Below is the last Breda Streetcar on November 12, 2025 crossing Church St.
No freeway eminent domain. No boomer congestion exurbs that have parking lots the size of football stadiums. Nope. Just reading a good book or paper or striking up an interesting conversation with our neighbors.
One of the treats of classroom training at Muni is the vintage videos with footage of San Francisco in the 1970’s. They show equipment smoothly flowing down Market Street with virtually no traffic and no delay. Screech forward to today’s reality—the sound of spinning tires, rad acceleration on the pedal, and long horn blasts—that are heard daily.
Before a meeting with a friend, he inspired me with a title for this chapter, and he had already come up with initials for this common occurrence heard trip after trip in his cab: C.H.S., compulsive honking syndrome. Or as I jokingly added, a part of a person’s Compulsive Horn Disorder, C.H.D.! A person with CHD may develop CHS if they do not catch the infection early on in their behavior pattern. For once set in the firing pattern of neurons, only through a meditation routine not unlike that followed by a Master Jedi such as Yoda, can the disease be remitted. Or, perhaps, by now reading The Dao of Doug.
The good news, just in: each one of us can change our habits by awareness of staying true to who we really are, and not reacting to a perceived slight by an ‘effing moron or douche bag. In slowing down my body movement by quiet time each evening, I get answers. Find your time. Can you do it in the morning, or is before bed better? In this case, I am an evening person. My do list check-off is an up and at ‘em energy best suited to the morning hours.
I never would have known this had I not stopped to question and analyze why I was jumping to conclusions or rushing to judgement about a person, place or thing that at first appeared to be in conflict with my path. Just like an automobile butting-out from the curb, double-parked, and giving me the horn, simply because they could not see the pedestrian crossing in front of me against the light. In fact, there are several common flow patterns that lead to compulsive horn syndrome, and once understood and quantified, this can provide the Dao (the manner of living) of non-reaction to breaking compulsive horn disorder. Below are the situations that can trigger CHS and lead to permanent disability with CHD.
The Math doesn’t lie–and yes, it’s been done by an Astrophysicist!
Let’s look at the facts:Bitcoins’ returns have beat all other asset classes for the past ten years. US Treasuries came in at number one in 2018, and Commodities came in First Place in 2022. . . .All other years BITCOIN!
As Rick Rule likes to point out, if we regress to the mean as a percentage of allocation to asset classes of two percent to Gold, hovering in 2025 at point five percent, to say, an additional one point five percent increase–would, for example, take GDX and GDXJ to a price well over one hundred–and gold price in ounces, to the moon! Many other experienced Market Makers on YouTube also now say the old 60 / 40 allocation breakdown in your retirement portfolio should shift with a twenty percent allocation in GOLD (and / or commodities) and twenty in AI or Tech or Crypto, with the standard 60 in stocks or passive ETF’s. The short form, to save you countless hours on YouTube: Is to Allocate for MINTED, MINED, AND PRINTED. (We now all know where printed get’s us.)
We keep hearing that Bitcoin is now more mature and stable, with friendly powers in the Executive Branch, and large institutions such as banks, now buying more Bitcoin and Stablecoin postitions in their own created ETFs. This graph above shows the standard up-and-to-the-right chart. The slope Power Law is the highest with BTC: more than the S & P, and more than gold (by a sliver-not silver) and the R squared number is so close to 1 that there is almost a 1-to-1 correlation with Bitcoin vs. Gold! Take a peek below on these three graphs:
The below graph does indeed show that the faded shaded light-blue x1 correlation is narrowing at a stable 5.86 ratio.
The chart below is not a Silver Widow-Maker chart, but a prediction of the next high in MSTR and BTC: mid-year 2027. (Although the work by Ryan Hogue does show May of this new year, 2026 may a ride to a peak in September 2026.)
Here’s the relieving, take a breath good news that is–keep buying MSTR and ETHA and other such tech-treasury related stocks–NOW WHILE THE PRICE IS LOW–so you don’t have to feel left out of the silver and gold markets’ rally. Buy Low sell High, remember? This is not my advice, but common standard practice as seen on YouTube podcasts. Ka-peesh?
Once again, this is the chart of the BTC/Gold power law residuals, which should make your Levi’s rise into a flush of excitement for the coming year of 2026 to 2027!
You owe it to yourself to watch the latest YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzN7sCO0maY video from BRAM, with astrophysicist Stephen Perrenod, to clarify this four year cycle thing:
As Bitcoin travels up the log chart, the time between peaks L e n g t h e n s, N’est pas? Bueno – mi hitijas y mi hitijos! All the BS by blocking the free markets in silver and changing the rules at the last minute–could be a bull run for MSTR and BTC-USD. As Ralph Kramden would say, “To the Moon Alice, To the Moon~”
The Dao of Doug: A Bus Driver's Perspective 